WGI Westman Group Incorporated is expanding its production capacity of fuel and hopper bins in Southern Manitoba. The Westman Group has acquired the manufacturing assets, land and building, from Norstar Manufacturing in Morris.  The transaction also includes the purchase of Norstar equipment being used in Aylmer, Ontario.
    
President and CEO of WGI Westman Group, Paul Cunningham, says the acquisition will afford them added capacity of their tank line facility, as it relates to Meridian in Winkler. 

The transaction will push Westman's fuel tank line into Morris, as well as the production of their smaller feed bin and hopper bin lines.  With a smaller oven in Morris, Cunningham says the focus in the community will be on smaller tanks.  "They just fit better in that facility...all of our facilities are going to be doing what they do best."

Meanwhile, Norstar will continue manufacturing some of its other product lines at its Rosenort facility.  Cunningham notes Westman has signed a supply agreement with Norstar to distribute those products throughout their entire network.

With Norstars ongoing operations in Rosenort, Cunningham said the company (Norstar) has indicated they want to keep a number of the Morris employees.  "And we are hiring employees, so at this point, unless someone doesn't want to continue...they should have a job."  Cunningham added Westman has conducted interviews with the displaced Morris Norstar employees, and they are in the process of hiring right now.   "In the end...if we look back in a year, we'll probably have even more employees in that facility than there were the day we took over."